Category: ICA – Storyworlds

Jobach

Team Members:

Bailey Booth, Charlie MacFarland, Charis Tuitama and Joe Bailey

Proposition:

What is present will deliver to us the future.

Project concept in response to proposition:

The Jobach team has collectively agreed to respond through a publication format (both printed and digital) that will explore individual characters of Karangahape road through interviews. These interviews will be videoed and edited to be incorporated in a digital interactive kiosk that acts as a ‘guide to Karangahape road’.

We have chosen this format because we believe it is best tailored to celebrate the individuals of Karangahape road whilst presenting it in a contemporary and futuristic form, complementing the people of the present and the technology of the future.

Personal Research Question:

What is the history of technology on Karangahape Road and what effect does Interactive kiosk’s have in a public environment, including retail spaces today domestically and internationally.

Furthermore, I wish to investigate how interactive technology influences the culture of New Zealand and explore what are the properties of effective technology interfaces that can inspire our design project.

The use of technology is forecasted to rapidly increase in the future therefore, we would like to investigate ways to help Karangahape road advance in its interactive technology however still allowing it to maintain its unique culture.

As our project product relies on human interaction with our social and informative technology piece, we would like to see how we could develop this concept in a way that is best suited to the audience of K’road. I will contribute to the project by researching other similar public environments internationally that has been using this technology effectively.

I will extend my research to the history of technology on Karangahape road specifically and ways in which other cities and successful companies such as Mc Donalds have implemented kiosks into their spaces. Lastly, considering what designers and large organizations have found to be an effective styling of the platforms interface.

Considering technology as my research project pathway will greatly contribute to the group project in our endeavors to create a interactive kiosk as a guide to Karangahape road.

Other Team members Research endeavours:

Charlie: The areas I will be researching to contribute to this project are divided into three parts. They include, defining the contemporary ‘vibe’ of Karangahape Road, interesting creatives that associate with Karangahape Road, and different aesthetics for our short video interviews.

Joe: The history of karangahape road and its people.As our group project is so heavily based on people, Joe is focusing on is the history of humans and groups/cultures in Auckland and more specifically Karangahape rd, Joe has chosen this as to get a greater understanding of the culture of Karangahape itself and hopefully be useful in the near future of our project. Joe thinks it is important for us to come into this project having a good grasp for the history of people around and on Karangahape Road so we can use this as reference to our work and incorporate it as part of our understanding of how the road lives and breathes today.

(Karangahape Road Business Association, 2016)

300 Maori laborers were set to work extending Queen street up to the top of the ridge (previously Queen street had only reached to about where to Town Hall is now.) At the same time engineers from the 58th Regiment construct a road from Symonds St to intersect with the top of Queen St turning the clay track into a route usable by wheeled traffic.

1863 July: The City Board contracts the Gas Company to provide Street Lighting in the principle streets of the town. The other main streets continue to be lit by muncipal oil lamps or those required by law to be provided by Public Houses, Hotels and Public Buildings.

1877: The new Auckland Hospital building by Philip Herepath is completed. On opening night is it a fantastic sight fully illuminated at every window by gas lighting.(demolished 1963)

1883: The Auckland Telephone system begins service.

1899: The first motorcar in Auckland (and only the third in new Zealand) Delivered to Percy Skeates and E. Bockaert in 1899. Called The Star, it was made by the Star Engineering Company of Wolverhampton, England.

1900 31st December: New Years Eve Celebrations to welcome in the new Century . The Auckland Waterfront is crowded with people watching the fireworks display – many buildings are illuminated by gas or electricity.

1902: The first Electric tram service reaches Symonds street from Queen St via Wellesley St. speed limit for trams set at 9 miles [13.5 kilometres] an hour. Part of the contact to allow trams use the roadway is that the central section where the tramlines are laid is surfaced in asphalt.

1902: Speed limit for motorcars set at 8 miles [12 kilometres ] an hour.

1903: A City Council poll results in trams being allowed to operate on Sundays but during church services.

1909: A Vaudeville Theatre is converted into a cinema by the Hayward brothers It opens as the Tivoli, later it will be called the Star, [by 1915 ] the Arcadia and finally [by 1953]the Vogue [ closes by 1955 ] since 1991 this has been a nightclub.[240 K’rd]

1911 December 26th: The first Colour moving picture films are shown in Auckland – a Colour process film – not a hand coloured B&W film. Simultaneous showing at the Globe Queen Street and the Kings Theatre Karangahape road on Boxing Night 1911.

1912 December: J.Morris Company organises the first Auckland Christmas Parade. A motorcar carrying Father Christmas drives up Symonds street, down Newton Road and turns into Karangahape Road. Followed by a vast crowd of children the vehicle ‘s route ends at the J.Morris store near Queen Street.

1916: Partington’s Windmill is rebuilt. When constructed in 1850 it stood in open fields. By the 20th century it is surrounded by several two story buildings so it recieves a new story so it’s sails are able to catch the prevailing wind from the Waitakeres.

1922 May 22: NZ’s first mechanical traffic control mechanisms are installed at the intersections of Queen & Wellesley Sts and Karangahape Road & Pitt Street.

These consist of movable red & white painted Stop & Go signs atop a twelve ft high pole standing in the middle of the intersection.

Worked manually by a Constable on duty between 8am-6pm on weekdays, the use of these items is abandoned on November 1 1926.

1923: Charles Pearson obtains the first licence in Auckland for a private Radio Station. This broadcasts from his Radio Shop at 155 Karangahape road. Initially called 1YB this station eventually became 1ZB in 1926. Radio History.

The morning announcer is a woman called Maud Basham would later became known as Aunt Daisy.

1923: 1YA Radio begins broadcasting. The Radio Broadcasting Company of New Zealand.

1925: The first Radio Braoadcast of a Religious Service in New Zealand. The Rev Lionel B Fletcher broadcasts from the Beresford Street Congregationalist Church.

The First Broadcasting House, France street

1926 August: The Radio Broadcasting Company of New Zealand (created 1923) begins operations from France Street. The Radio Towers for 1YA are located on top of the adjacent George Courts Building.

In 1935 1YA becomes absorbed into the National Broadcasting System and relocates to Shortland Street. The France Street building was demolished around 1935.

1926 November 1: The use of the mechanical Stop & Go traffic signals is abandoned.

Pedestrian crossings are painted on the road at Intersections. Two white “Limit” lines are painted on the road as well, one for motor vehicles and horse-drawn vehicles 20 ft back from the corner and one for trams 26ft back from the corner.

[By the end of the month it is noted that many motorists are ignoring the lines and allowing their vehicles to creep forward onto the crossing area.]

1927: The Minister of Transport addresses the Karangahape road Businessmen’s Association about the proposed underground railway link which would run under K Road..

Proposed Subway

1929 March 4th: In order to relieve traffic congestion a subway is proposed to be built under the Karangahape Road intersection top link Queen Street to Belgium Street.

This project was eventually abandoned – partly because of local opposition but mostly because of the effect of the Great Depression.

The Council’s own Traffic Planners backed other solutions.

Farmers Free Tram to K Road.

1936: The Farmers Department Store commence their free tram service between their store in Hobson Street & Pitt Street. From 1938 this route will be serviced by trolley buses. [Their free bus service from Queen St to their store began in 1922.] Both services will be discontinued in the late 1980s.

1937: The volume of Sunday traffic now requires two police officers to be stationed at both ends of Grafton Bridge during the day.

The Great White Way

1938 March 10th: Sir John Allum switches on the Community Lighting for Karangahape Road. This under awning lighting creates a mile of brightly illuminated shopping and is dubbed “The Great White Way”

1942 February 15th: Following the Fall of Singapore Air-raid Drills and Black-outs are imposed on Australian and New Zealand cities.

Air-raid drills and black outs impose themselves on everyday life in Auckland. Private transportation is hampered by petrol restrictions resulting in public transport being overloaded. The crush usually encountered at rush hour is now usual all day.

1948: In an effort to conserve power street lighting in residential areas is turned off at 1am; it is noted that the number of night time accidents increases. This policy is done away with in May 1962.

1948 July: Experimental fluorescent street lights are installed along K’rd (later extended to the whole city from November 1952 )

1949: Trolley Buses are introduced.

1955: Auckland Motorway System planned.

1956: The electric Tram service is discontinued, the Tram tracks are torn up. The overhead wires are modified for the new electric trolley buses.

1992 September: Auckland’s first revolving restaurant, ‘Restaurant 360’, which is sited on the top of the Telecom Building on Karangahape Road, opens.

2013: Central Rail Link project promoted

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(Carnachan, 2016)

Transcript of interview with Sue Carnachan

12th September 2016

Sue’s memories as a child in the 60’s of technology on Karangahape road.

“Another thing was the lifts because the lifts were always manned by somebody and they had those bifold doors that would go open. Then tin doors would open and then the grill. The grill would have to open into the lift and a man was in there. You weren’t allowed to push your own button. Then you would go up and then the grill would open then the doors all by hand with big handles. I guess they were electric because they would quietly just move up but he would crank a handle.

I was only a little girl but above each register was a pulley system with holder things where your money went. When you paid for your item your money was put in a little container and it was shuffled around on this pulley system to the accountants office where we worked out the money, wrote out the receipt, gave the change and then the container came back to you by the pulley system to the cashier. With little bells and dings. It would take a while. Maybe it was electric maybe it was just pullies. As a kid I would remember how it worked but I remember watching it and being fascinated by it. It stayed there for quite a long time like an antiquie thing, for years after it wasn’t used.

The trolley buses were the other thing with the poles that went up to the power lines and attached to the power lines. Sometimes you would get half way between K’road and Queen Street and the pole would pop off the wires and the bus would stop. The driver would have to get out and swing on the poles and reattach them to the telegraph wire and then you could go again. Very quiet, all electric, lovely little stop, starts and whinny little sounds they would make and they off.

I don’t know what brought about the change in K’road but it was a prime shopping area and a lovely gracious place to go, where all the locals shopped. There were several beautiful department stores. People would come from all over, we lived out west in the orchards so we would catch the bus all the way to K’road to go shopping cause that’s what you did . . .. It just lost its pull.”

(Ltd, 2014)

And now you can own or rent the most advanced point-of-sale technology available. Interactive Kiosk presentations are the growing trend for reaching your customers in-store by giving them more control over the choice of product or service you offer. Touchscreens are being successfully integrated into the sales environment by more companies everyday… Give us a call and make sure you’re not the last to get in touch!

Where do touchscreens fit in the marketing mix?

A new and exciting future is dawning with the development of cost effective digital signage hardware and reactive graphics programs. Your customers can now easily operate our touch screen equipment to select from your product range, check out your product’s application and verify costs. Your company will be seen as innovative and efficient, plus the systems can save your staff valuable time and also collect useful data.

What is best for my company?

Talk to us and we will show you how an Interactive solution can work for you, for both hardware and graphics programs … we will even design a tailor-made unit specifically for your needs.

What is touchscreen technology?

Thanks to the living interface of touchscreen technology, now your customers can browse and choose a product that’s right for them, select map guidance to a destination, or research product benefits, on screen, up-to-date and in-store. The ultimate resource for your sales people… it keeps on working 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What graphics and software do I need?

Our turn-key solution philosophy provides our clients with all the planning, graphic design, archiving management, hosting and hardware manufacture they may need to make the transition to an Interactive touch screen system easy, economical and successful.

What’s it going to cost me?

The systems are capable of paying for themselves very quickly in saved time, added sales value and more efficient stock management. Both equipment and graphics programs can be financed through either a lease or rental program from as little as NZ$5 per day.

What are the benefits…

Talks for you when you can’t

Adds value to the sale

Provides comprehensive product Information

Customisable to suit your brand

Designed, made and serviced in New Zealand

Add printers, scanners, cameras, etc.

Build customer database from input

Who’s using them?

2014 has been predicted as a massive year for touchscreen interactive devices – and those who wait will be left behind.

Are they standard screens?

Our units can be purpose built to sizes from 10″ to 50″. But the casings are cleverly designed to be exceptionally stable even in a tough retail environment. Standard units are also available to accomodate budget and time contraints – we even manufacture stainless steel units for outdoors.

Are they transportable?

They are very mobile – just plug in and play. But the casings are cleverly designed to prevent them falling over onto children, and robust enough to resist the retail environment.

Can I use my website as the basis?

Not really, touchscreens are much more graphically exciting – because the content is totally interactive and not limited by speed, picture size, animation, and page numbers. We may be able to use some of your web content however.

Can a database be derived?

The technology is ideal for data collection because of the way the user interfaces with the content – direct and precise.

Can I customise the case?

Now we’re talking! If you want a display made of wood or acrylic… with flashing lights – it can be done! We even have virtual keyboards right on the screen. Standard units are also available for budget and time constraints.

Where can I use them?

Any environment, even outdoors and factory situations.

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(Tan, 2013)

Interactive Touch Screen Mall Directory

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(Association, 2014)

Interactive Mall Kiosk Mall Kiosks and Directories

Shopping malls can be huge buildings with numerous retailers vacating spaces and consumers can sometimes find it hard to navigate them successfully. RedyRef’s interactive touchscreen mall kiosks and building directories make it easy for shoppers to find what they are looking for! From a shoe store to the food court, our kiosks can provide detailed floor maps to ensure that shoppers get to where they need to go.

Our touchscreen kiosks also feature the opportunity for merchants to place advertisements, special announcements and even greet shoppers. Other important information can also be highlighted in the kiosk like mall services, restroom locations and security offices. Interactive mall kiosks provides users with multiple benefits and advantages because shoppers will be able to easily locate specific stores, check out important announcements and be less likely to leave because all the information they need will be on display.

KIOSK DESIGN

Kiosks play an important role when it comes to the overall flow of the mall because they give the space a sense of direction and help. By designing a kiosk to flow with interior features, your kiosk will seamlessly integrate with structural designs and tie into the space rather than looking out of place. RedyRef works with you when generating the overall design by providing you with custom tailored solutions.

The first step involves developing the appropriate software to suit your market. By integrating advanced software into the kiosk, you will have the ability to suit the program to fit the needs of the public. From there, our designers and engineers work with you to create a suitable kiosk enclosure which can vary from many choices: free standing, wall mount, desk mount and a custom mount.

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(IFC Mall I-KIOSK 2, 2012)

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(Raonsquare, NIKE TECH PACK, 2013)

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(DOWN, 2009)

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(Randomlifts, 2015)

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(Kalamut, 2011)

ShopWithMe will begin its 2015 Holiday tour in Chicago and will feature internationally recognized fashion brands, TOMS Shoes and Raven + Lily. Both collections will be integrated into the ShopWithMe experience. A full range of products will be featured on smart fixtures and customers will experience futuristic changing rooms that engage with the customers via interactive mirror displays, allowing customers to make purchases or request alternate products without leaving their changing room, providing unprecedented convenience for their shoppers.

“Our promise is to make retail simple and beautiful,” states Jonathan Jenkins, Founder and CEO of WithMe. “We provide the infrastructure and technology that brands need to activate a turn key interactive retail store and begin selling seamlessly, overnight. This is something that hasn’t been achieved by any retailer before.”

ShopWithMe is a moving, global destination for brands that want to engage their customers in a new and personalized way. The solution is built for both traditional retailers that are moving towards smaller showroom locations and online retailers that are looking to expand into physical stores. Brands move from city to city, while providing a limitless access to inventory, creating an “endless aisle” for shoppers. As retail stores continue to struggle in finding new ways to reach their customers, ShopWithMe brings an affordable turn key solution that proves the benefits of online shopping in a new type of physical store.

“We’re creating our very own ‘store of the future.’ Why should a new store have to be physically built for every brand? At ShopWithMe we change the files not the fixtures to create a new experience. Today the store can be TOMS Shoes and next week it can be an entirely new brand without us having to rebuild the store,” says Danielle Jenkins, Co-Founder of WithMe.

The vision of ShopWithMe is to build a network of smart stores all across the world which retailers can activate and deactivate within days. This will allow brands to go from zero stores to fifty overnight and then down to zero again a few weeks later.

“We are going to be doing for retail what the Amazon cloud did for technology companies. So many great tech companies have been formed over the last ten years because the cost of starting them has dropped significantly. Think of ShopWithMe retail stores like you do Amazon servers. We set up the infrastructure and all the brands have to do is flip a switch to scale up or down very quickly without the large upfront investment,” says Jonathan Jenkins, Founder and CEO of WithMe.

Deemed the “new shape of retail” by Entrepreneur Magazine, ShopWithMe is physically shape shifting the walls, and uses smart fixtures such as glass top digital displays and LED-driven decor within an architecturally designed masterpiece. During the time in the store a shopper will also be recommended product based on what they have been browsing. As you walk by, a shelf on the wall will actually move toward you to recommend you the item it holds.

“While the ShopWithMe fixtures and store experience is smart, it is also eliminating the traditional friction in brick-and-mortar retail,” says William Reid, VP of Payment of WithMe, who was a former Director of Innovation at Paypal before joining the company. “My favorite part of the store is the express checkout. If the shopper downloads our mobile app they can actually find a product they want in the store and literally walk out the door and we charge them as they leave. No more checkout lines.”

Thought leaders like the co-founders of ShopWithMe are at the forefront of retail’s evolution in the digital age. Blake Mycoskie, Founder and Chief Shoe Giver of TOMS Shoes, and Kirsten Dickerson, Founder of Raven + Lily, are fashion industry innovators that proved with their individual success stories that the future of retail will include consciously effective product manufacturing, marketing transparency, and corporate responsibility.

“We are thrilled to be a part of ShopWithMe’s innovative, sustainable store model. Customers are able to leverage technology to gain a deeper understanding of the story behind our products through their interactive kiosk. We look forward to seeing them introduce this new shopping experience to a wider audience,” states Kirsten Dickerson, Founder of Raven + Lily.

ShopWithMe is the smart store of the future- a perfect blend of the online and physical shopping worlds where the general public can come and access a curated, digital shopping experience. It is a viable solution for many retailers who are struggling in today’s economy to meet the needs of their customers and their products.

“This 3,000 sq. ft. mobile structure challenges traditional models of retail architecture by allowing different brands to temporarily inhabit a technologically advanced, highly interactive, and consumer-centered space. The structure is composed of four self-contained units connected by a bridge spanning 43 ft. Cutting-edge mobile and tensile architectural systems allow for easy assembly, disassembly, and transport anywhere on the planet in a matter of days,” says Giorgio Borruso, Principal of Giorgio Borruso Design and Design Architect for ShopWithMe. “We were intrigued by the idea of a kinetic building materializing within the dense urban context of a top architecture capital and becoming part of its landscape. Fittingly, the first location for this mobile unit was Chicago’s Pioneer Court, where Jean Baptiste Point du Sable not only founded the city in the 1780’s, but also built its first retail trading post.”

ShopWithMe plans to bring its stores to Chicago, New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and Miami in the coming months and will begin shipping stores globally at the first of the year.

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(Haynes, 2015)

MEGAN HAYNES 07.20.15 6:34 PM

In the latest Coca-Cola “Share a Coke” venture, generosity is rewarded with more than a warm feeling. The soft-drink maker partnered with JetBlue for a stunt at New York’s Penn Station, rewarding sharers with the gift of travel.

The two brands set up a vending machine in the middle of the station and dished out two Coca-Colas to anyone who ordered one, while signs encouraged folks to give the second one away.

And those who did were captured on camera (including obligatory confused looks), until a JetBlue crew member approaches, telling them that for their act of generosity they would get two round-trip tickets. The machine itself dished out 150 transactions (or 300 bottles of Coke), and according to the company approximately 70% of people gave that second bottle to a stranger (presumably, at least some of the others who walked away with their Cokes also shared them out of sight of the agency’s cameras).

It’s not the first time the soft-drink brand has partnered with an airliner to give away free trips. Last year, Coke paired with Canada’s WestJet, (also known for gifting unsuspecting people) encouraging passengers to create custom cans for friends and family. Those who did, got a free plane ticket, with the barcode printed on the side of the can.

(Doherty)

The Block: Stories From a Meeting Place is a virtual time capsule that explores the history and significance of Redfern’s Indigenous-owned housing precinct, ‘the Block’.

The production began in late 2010, not long after the Block’s 41 remaining residents received notice to vacate their homes – ending an era of struggle, community and self-determination that had lasted nearly 40 years.

Located on land traditionally inhabited by the Gadigal people, the Block was established in 1973. It soon became known as a meeting place amongst the Indigenous community; a place where people converge to share their stories and to release their pain. For the Stolen Generations in particular, it is a place to reconnect with long lost family members.

For decades, the Block has been plagued by stories of drugs, crime and tragedy, but there have been other, richer stories as well. The goal of this production was to capture the heart and spirit of a place that cannot be summed up by one story or one narrative, but many.

The interviews were mostly shot on location on the Block using Canon 5D cameras and the footage was edited with Final Cut Pro. The site was designed in Photoshop and Illustrator, and built in Flash.

Other features of the project include a timeline of events using rare material from the SBS archives, an ambient soundscape crafted by Xavier Fijac and innovative panoramic photography by Peter Murphy. The 15 interviews have been sub-titled in Chinese, Arabic, French and English. Audiences can also listen to the interviews in Dharug, the language group from which Gadigal derives.

The documentary is non-linear in its narrative structure, and ambient in its visual and audio approach. We invite you to take a virtual tour around the precinct to truly explore the diversity of the Block and its community.

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(Booth, 2016)

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(Jones, 2016)

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(Kluskowski, 2016)

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(Interactive McDonald’s Menu, 2012)

PROJECT SUMMARY

McDonald’s menu boards were originally quite simple, but over the years additional product categories like salads, snack wraps, and McCafé beverages have made their menu convoluted and confusing. Part of the issue is a lack of hierarchy. New promotions and the Value Menu take center stage while smaller portions and single snacks are easily overlooked. Partly, customers feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices – the McDonald’s menu has grown to include over 150 items. Our team decided to create an interactive ordering kiosk to solve these problems.

To create hierarchy our interface is grouped according to meal options and specific food categories such as snacks, burgers, chicken, and salads. Navigation tools including headings, subheadings, descriptions and color coding add visual clarity. To take pressure off the ordering process a kiosk will be located at each table in the restaurant. Several kiosks will also be located between the entry and the traditional ordering counter for those who want to take their meal to-go.

Many McDonald’s customers order the exact same items every visit. To address their needs we’ve created a favorites program which allows customer to quickly access the meals they love by simply swiping their credit card or ID. Unlike other loyalty programs, customers will not be required to sign up for an account or be bombarded with promotional emails. Instead, if a new discount or promotion pertains to a customer’s taste they will be made aware of it the next time their card is swiped. This rewards loyal customers and allows them to customize their experience.

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(Touch Screen LCD Display Future)

How does it work?

beMerlin’s standard configuration is composed of a video-based movements tracking system, a computer, a beamer and a transparent screen.

The cameras of the tracking system detect the hand movements at a distance and send their location to the computer. The data is instantly processed and the beamer receives the information to be projected on the screen.

beMerlin’s technology is invisible and is easy to install, move or transport. No expensive transformations of the place of installation are needed.

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(Williamson, 2013)

NYC MTA ON THE GO INTERACTIVE KIOSKS TO MAKE NAVIGATION EASY

The New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) partnered with design firm Control Group to create a system of touchscreen kiosks that feature real-time information and all the help you might need to navigate the city via the subway system.

On The Go (OTG) will be interactive HD displays at subway stations with everything from simple station directions with transfers, countdowns to train arrivals, service updates, neighborhood maps, and digital content loops. The kiosks will replace current subway maps making it easier to hone in on what information you really need.

It’s built with a custom content management system on a flexible framework, which will allow for third-party apps to be developed to bring new features.

If you want to design successful user interfaces then you need clear and effective visual communication. Interface Design will help you achieve this using a range of incisive case studies, interviews with professional designers and clear hands-on advice to help you produce user-focused front-end designs for a range of digital media interfaces.

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(Nash, 2013)

Elements mall was built by the MTR Corporation’s subsidiary Premier Management Service and was established on October 1, 2007. It sits directly above the Kowloon MTR Station and is next to the residential complex Union Square and the Western Harbour Tunnel. Elements mall is built into five zones, each zone is based off the five Chinese elements: Fire, Wood, Water, Metal, and Earth. Along with the many stores, Elements also has restaurants, a cinema, and an ice rink. Throughout Elements there are concierge desks and mall directories to help customers navigate their way around the mall. Elements is a high end mall that “brings together some of the world’s most sought-after brands and services.”

We (Nathan N., Thomas T. and Lindsay H.) feel that the directories in the Elements mall in Kowloon can be redesigned to be an interactive kiosk, touch screen functionality, with additional features for better facilitating the customers’ needs to help elevate the overall experience of being in Elements.

Ethnographic research

To kick off our research efforts my team and I discussed how to handle to ethnographic research by asking questions such as; “What time of day should we go?” and “What should we look for?”. After some deliberation the three of us decided that the best approach would be for each of us to individually go to the mall during the morning, afternoon and evening to observe individuals interacting with the kiosks. We took notes as to how many people we saw interact with them during our visits as well as how the people interacted with them

(Tuffley, 2016)

Digital communication is evolving from text-based to being visual. This is already happening as Pinterest and Instagram are growing faster than text-based platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

By the 2020s, visual communication is likely to be dominant, with multimedia artists, animators and illustrators being in greater demand by organisations wanting to communicate with a mass audience.

Visual skills such as animation will be complemented with music, text, object-oriented programming and augmented reality.

The ideal worker in this field blends advanced technology skills with the humanities. They understand human nature and know how to use the latest technology to create compelling narratives.

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(Tsukayama, 2016)

Pokemon Go to make even more money

What do you do when you have a viral game that encourages players to walk around streets and parks? Sell ads, of course.

The developer of Pokémon Go said it will soon accept sponsored partnerships to make certain locations appear more prominently in the mobile game that has taken the country by storm.

The move to make even more money off this juggernaut makes sense given just how popular the game has become. Since its July 6 launch, it has become the biggest mobile game in history. It now has more daily users than Twitter, and people are spending more time on it than on Facebook. And the Wall Street Journal reported that advertising companies have been reaching out to Niantic to figure out how to get their clients in on the game.

Until the official partnerships start, some businesses that are already PokéStops – places in the game where players can find Pokémon and in-game items – have taken it upon themselves to do a little unofficial promotion. Players in the game can buy an item called a “lure,” which increases the number of cartoon monsters that appear in the game – critters that players have to physically track down to level up in the app.

Lures last 30 minutes. For about $10, you can buy enough lures to keep people coming to your store for four hours.

A pizzeria in Brooklyn used this tactic to draw in more customers and saw business jump by 75 percent, according to the New York Post. Washington’s Politics and Prose bookshop put down lures to draw players Tuesday evening, said Jon Purves, the store’s director of marketing and publicity. The store itself is a gym – a place in the game where players can battle for dominance – and a mural on the store’s wall is also a dedicated PokéStop.

“It certainly did bring people by,” Purves said. “All throughout the evening we were seeing lots of kids coming along, and lots of adults as well hang out on the mural.” He said that, overall, the store spent about $5 to draw people in for the evening and that the store was happy with the return on its investment. Other nearby businesses, such as Comet Ping Pong, also benefited from the lure.

“We might be talking to them about shared lure opportunities” in the future, Purves said.

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(Griffin, 2016)

“What if the possibilities were truly infinite?” a seductive voice whispers in my ear as I gaze around me at a universe of galaxies and constellations.

No, I hadn’t taken any drugs, though the speed at which virtual reality is improving threatens to hook more of us who crave technology’s equivalent of a legal high. I’m actually wearing a Gear VR headset with the Galaxy S7 smartphone clipped to the front of it, putting me in the middle of a 360-degree simulation of the universe.

The Gear VR arrived in 2015, but only now are applications appearing that give a glimpse of its potential. The Oculus store is teeming with games that show off VR’s immersive attributes. But there’s plenty for smartphone users who don’t play games.

Netflix takes on a new aspect in VR – you can sit on a red couch in a swanky apartment with House of Cards playing in front of you. Plug in your headphones and the experience is truly absorbing, particularly if your own lounge is shabby in comparison.

In Streetview VR, you jump to areas on the maps made famous by Google and swivel your head around to gain perspective. Voice recognition picks up your spoken location of choice. “Auckland” plonked me in the middle of a busy Queen St intersection.

Elsewhere there are apps that let you tour museums and watch concerts. There’s a whole line of apps in meditation and relaxation – watch the sun going down as waves crash on a beach and new-age music plays in the background.

Recently I tried a VR app created by Wellington company Genulin Interactive, developed with the Malaghan Institute, which takes the viewer inside the body to see a simulation of how cancer immunotherapy works on cells. When I saw that, VR’s scope for changing how we work, learn and communicate new ideas really hit home.

Actually, none of these ideas are particularly novel, but they all take on a heightened, slightly surreal feel in VR. It can be an intensely individual experience with those goggles strapped on – until you jump into a multi-player game or Altspace VR, one of the first social networks in the virtual world.

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(Jewell, 2015)

Described as “a treasure hunt for the 21st century”, Endgame’s enhanced elements are an indicator of the book industry’s increasingly digitised future, says the 45-year-old. “A book is still a book, but it’s inevitable that technology is going to start bleeding into them,” he says. “In America, over 50% of books sold now are e-books. But at the same time, the idea that the storytellers aren’t going to start extending their worlds and their mythologies into all these other platforms is ridiculous.”

Evoking the dystopian spirit of The Hunger Games’ gladiatorial bouts, Endgame’s main characters are adolescent “Players” who are pitted against each other by a mysterious alien race in a bid to save their people from the impending apocalypse. With its multinational cast, the closest the novel gets to New Zealand is laid-back Coffin Bay resident Alice Ulapala. “We did consider Maori,” says Frey. “But we couldn’t avoid the Aborigines because they’re the oldest culture in the world. We couldn’t have both Maori and Aborigines and there were a lot of countries that didn’t get represented. In our view, Maori would ultimately be with the line of the Aborigine.”

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(Nichol, 2015)

The most useful thing Richard MacManus learnt from monitoring his activity levels using a Fitbit Tracker – basically a high-tech pedometer – was how little activity he actually did. “It was shockingly low – I was only walking about 2000 steps a day,” admits the Wellington-based technology writer.

After a few months of using his Fitbit, which unlike a standard pedometer can also calculate how many calories you use, he realised he needed to do about 8000 steps a day to keep his weight at a good level and his body happy. Thanks to the data provided by Fitbit, he now knows exactly how to reach that goal; a morning walk to his local cafe and back is good for 3000 steps and a second walk later on gets his daily count up to an acceptable level.

Once he had his activity levels sorted, MacManus abandoned the Fitbit and turned his attention to tracking his food consumption using the MyFitnessPal iPhone app. As a type 1 diabetic, the founder of technology blog ReadWrite.com had more reason than most to monitor his food intake, particularly his carbohydrate consumption. People with this kind of diabetes have to limit how many carbohydrates they eat to help control their blood sugar levels. He also used Diamedic, which records glucose readings and other vital statistics.

MacManus spent several months using MyFitnessPal to work out the diet that best suited him, then stopped using that as well. However, he expects he’ll use both it and Fitbit again in the future – “particularly if I start to find I’m having problems with my diet, or I start gaining weight”.

He’ll be in good company: an estimated 40 million people have downloaded the MyFitnessPal app. How many of those will actually achieve their goals remains to be seen. Fitbit co-founder James Park has claimed, however, that his company’s tracking device leaves the average user about 40% more active after about 12 weeks. Apps that give instant feedback hold the promise of lasting motivation – to lose weight, get healthier and improve your quality of life.

Those downloading millions are part of a growing number of people involved in health self-tracking – or as it’s known in Silicon Valley, “quantified self” or QS – which MacManus says will take another big step forward when the Apple watch comes onto the market sometime this year. It’s expected to have 10 or more sensors to track health and fitness activity. “It’s going to be a game-changer.”

The QS movement is in pursuit of greater self-know­ledge through the use of biometric data collected through the powerful devices we now carry with us everywhere and use to find out things, be entertained, pay bills, look for love and sometimes even communicate with other human beings. It’s estimated there are 100,000 apps devoted to health for Android and iPhone, a number that’s doubled in the past two years. The app market for health and fitness is worth about US$4 billion, but is predicted to hit US$26 billion by 2017. The number of health apps continues to increase across every category, including those related to the heart, respiration, asthma, allergies, sleep, light exposure, bones, the nervous system, mental health and sexual health. Some apps, such as BlueStar, which helps people with type 2 diabetes, are only available with a doctor’s prescription.

Health apps gather information by way of wristband devices, smart watches, heart-rate monitors and internet-linked weighing scales. Soon these will be joined by ear wearables, phone cases and sweat strips (see page 19). Microchips embedded beneath the skin, which are already being used by some “biohackers”, may become more common.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

MacManus’s interest in health technology was triggered when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2007. Unlike the more common type 2 diabetes, type 1 cannot be prevented, but it can be controlled by a combination of insulin medication, healthy food choices and exercise.

As a longtime observer of the tech world, MacManus took that personal interest a step further and spent a year researching health-tracking apps and devices. The result was Trackers: How Technology is Helping Us Monitor & Improve Our Health, which provides an in-depth analysis of the apps, devices and services that are currently available and some that are further down the technology track. He believes services such as individual genetic mapping, already available through companies such as the US-based 23andMe, have the potential to make a huge difference to people’s ability to identify potential health issues and take action to prevent them.

In 2012, MacManus took a 23andMe test, which indicated he had a higher than average risk of getting type 1 diabetes. It was still only a 4.1% lifetime risk, based on the genetic variations the company focuses on in the genome. As he points out, that figure isn’t particularly useful, because even if he had received it before he actually developed the disease, he couldn’t have done anything to prevent it.

“The main problem at the moment is that the data is hard to make practical use of. There’s just so much that’s unknown about DNA in terms of interpreting it.” That includes epigenetic changes, in which an individual’s lifestyle and environment can alter the expression of genes either favourably or not.

Difficulties with interpreting the data is just one of the obstacles facing 23andMe. In November 2013, the US Federal Drug Administration undercut the Google-backed company by banning it from providing users with the kind of risk calculations it sent MacManus, saying they weren’t accurate enough and could be misleading. MacManus believes 23andMe will eventually overcome this setback. “I think it has a great future.”

Scientists are delving deeper into genetics to find out what makes us tick and they’re also increasingly studying our microbiome – the changing communities of bacteria that inhabit our bodies. One of Silicon Valley’s hottest new biotech start-ups, uBiome, has developed a simple swab kit that allows users to collect bacterial samples for testing and comparison with a database of other users. With micro-organisms increasingly linked with health conditions from obesity to autism, the bacteria in our gut and elsewhere could help pinpoint what’s ailing us.

In Trackers, MacManus also investigates start-ups such as NeuroProfile, which is working on the idea of people being able to improve their brain function by way of getting regular MRI scans to establish a baseline. The idea is that through practices such as meditation, visual exercises and “non-invasive brain stimulation” – that is, applying tiny electrical pulses – the brain’s “neuroplasticity” can be employed. Another plan is to use the company’s technology to be able to predict diseases such as Alzheimer’s, so that people can attempt to curb impairment or perhaps at least plan ahead.

A WORLD OF POSSIBILITY

For many of us, the idea of self-tracking may seem like a step too far. Who has the time, let alone the inclination, to collect and record all that data? According to MacManus, you don’t need to be obsessive about it to get good results. “One of the most important things I learnt is that you can do it for just two or three months and find out what you need to know, make the necessary adjustments, then stop using them.”

He’s careful to stress that despite claims by some diehard Silicon Valley enthusiasts that self-tracking will eventually replace doctors, he sees it as a way of complementing rather than replacing medical advice and monitoring. “It’s certainly not a panacea for anything, but it gives you interesting data about your own body and daily patterns and helps you instigate changes in your life. And once doctors get more comfortable using this technology, they’ll be able to use it to help their patients.”

Auckland public health physician and medical researcher Robyn Whittaker agrees. She believes that although self-tracking is still very much in its infancy, it will eventually become a useful tool for doctors. She can see it being particularly helpful in the treatment of people with chronic conditions, who may be able to use apps or devices to monitor their physiological responses to lifestyle changes or new drugs. “They’ll be able to tell their doctor whether it worked for them or not and have the evidence for that. It’ll help them to get into shared decision-making with their physician.”

Like MacManus, Whittaker also believes genetic mapping will be a useful tool in the future. Among the more interesting possibilities is its ability to be used to determine who’s likely to benefit from a particular medication and who’s likely to react badly to it. “We’re a long way off genetic mapping being universally helpful. There’s still a lot to be learnt in this area, and there’s likely to be a world of possibilities that we’re not even aware of yet.”

The future of wearable tech

Devices for monitoring your health have so far been mainly pedometers, trackers that clip to your belt or bra and watches and bracelets. But more are coming.

Ear wearables, or “hear­ables”, show much promise, partly because the temporal artery is close to the ear, allowing devices to measure heart rate, respiration and blood oxygen rate, blood pressure and number of steps taken. Some, such as iriverOn and FreeWavz, let you listen to music while monitoring your heart, breath and calories burnt. SensoTrack, out this year, will keep tabs on your heart and breath, determine your steps, pace, location, altitude and calories used and plug the data into your weight, BMI and blood sugar stats. BitBite, when it launches, will sit in your ear and monitor what you eat and how you chew.

Smartphone cases are increasingly being used to monitor your vital signs. AliveCor is an iPhone case that monitors your heart rate and rhythms on the go, checking for indications of abnormal patterns that might precede events such as a stroke. A version without a case can be used with an Android device. Wello promises to monitor your heart, breath, blood oxygen and temperature.

Strip sensors such as Electrozyme will go even further, analysing your sweat to find out what’s happening with your body chemistry. You’ll be able to know your precise hydration levels and electrolyte balance, and find out how hard your muscles are working and whether you’re heading for heat exhaustion.

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(Pellegrino, 2016)

The Trolls and Tribulations of Social Media

It was the flag debate that stirred up my Facebook friends. Suddenly a group of strangers who have no connection, aside from me, were scrapping. One took to the keyboard to rant; others softened their opinions with a smiley emoticon. A decade ago they might have discussed the issue with a few mates over a beer but today, when the nation divides, it is publicly and vociferously via social media channels.

All this digital hot air is most likely wasted. The latest study of Facebook reveals it is a stronghold of ­confirmation bias. Research by the Laboratory of Computational Social Science in Lucca, Italy, shows we seek out information that confirms our beliefs and ignore anything contrary to them. We form communities of like-minded people whether we’re debating flag designs, the US election or some off-the-wall conspiracy theory, and in doing so we strengthen whatever opinion we had in the first place.

Facebook – still the leading social network with 1.5 billion monthly active users worldwide – remains the platform that is most about staying in touch with people you know. But hundreds of millions more are posting on image-sharing networks such as Instagram, Pinterest and Weheartit. They are mini-blogging on Twitter and Tumblr. Live broadcasting on Periscope and Meerkat. Digesting everything from snackable bites of philo­sophy to recipes on Google+ and dating on Tinder or Grinder. Chatting about books on Goodreads. Connecting on Snapchat. Professionally networking on LinkedIn.

Yet despite the proliferation of social media outlets and globalisation, New Zealand retains its own social media ­character. Just because something is trending overseas it doesn’t mean it will here. “You see Kiwis getting all ‘soapboxy’ on Facebook, which is very unusual,” says Auckland social media professional Wendy Thompson. “And Twitter is a very unbalanced community in this country. All the media are on there, all the politicians, a ­massive left-wing contingent. In general, Twitter attracts people who have strong opinions; it’s more negative, a shouty public thing. And when you look at who is most vocal, it’s generally not young people, it’s men in their fifties and sixties.”

“The members of these communities provide real-time feedback on everything that the other members say, because that’s how the platform works. Mostly the community provides validation to people who say the right thing, but very harsh criticism if they say the wrong thing, and even expulsion if they really challenge the consensus viewpoint.”

PERFECT WORLDS

Less serious but still insidious is the fakery of the social media world – all those perfect Instagrammers posting photos of themselves in their active wear, sipping on green smoothies, the Facebookers who seem to be living the dream in flash restaurants and overseas destinations, all of it leading to a self-esteem-denting sense that everyone is fitter, prettier and having a better time than you are.

Australian Instagram star Essena O’Neill quit the platform citing unrealistic ­“fitsperation” images that distort the idea of beauty and drove her to adopt unhealthy eating habits so she looked thin enough to post the highly staged, often sponsored, perfect photos of herself that she has since deleted. “Social media is not real life,” the 19-year-old declared.

But for many it is a large part of everyday life. About two million Kiwis log on to Facebook every day. The average user checks in about 15 times a day.

And it’s not all bad. Much of the popular local content is of social benefit – the ­Facebook com­munity groups that tell you what’s going on in your neighbourhood, the Pay It Forward Facebook pages doing good deeds, the many agencies now using social media to convey information. Police, for example, regularly load photos and videos of wanted criminals in the modern equivalent of a Wanted poster.

It all makes for vast amounts of content. In a single day there are about one billion Facebook posts and 400 million tweets worldwide. It has been estimated it would take 10 years to view all the photos shared on Snapchat alone in a single hour; and by then another 880,000 years’ worth would have been posted.

But all this sharing and connecting may not be making us any happier (Facebook’s lonely hearts, page 22). Researchers in Denmark have found that Facebook users were less happy, more worried and lonelier than non-users. After one week without it, ­participants reported a significantly higher level of satisfaction. Other studies have looked at the way the constant self-comparison triggers feelings of envy that in turn can lead to depression. Research from Austria’s University of Innsbruck found the longer people spent on Facebook the worse they felt – largely because of a sense they weren’t using their time meaningfully.

DOPAMINE FIX

So why does social media have such a hold over us? Even when it’s not rewarding, we keep going back for more, partly because each time we check into social media it stimulates the release of small amounts of dopamine, the feel-good hormone. What it actually does is cause seeking behaviour, says US psychologist Susan Weinschenk, who explains that social media supplies almost instant gratification for the desire to seek, putting us in what she refers to as “a dopamine loop” (you get rewarded, which makes you seek more).

Moreover, the dopamine system is most powerfully stimulated when the information coming in is small so that it doesn’t fully satisfy – hence you crave more of those 140-character bursts of pleasure.

So is social networking addictive? Potentially, says US psychologist Michael Fenichel who has introduced a new term Facebook Addiction Disorder (Fad). He defines this as a condition where hours are spent on social media to the extent that the healthy balance of an individual’s life is affected – one warning sign is having multiple Facebook windows open, another is being on social media when you really ought to be sleeping.

More than half of New Zealanders use Facebook most or all of the time while watching TV, and 1.6 million of them access it from their mobile phones, presumably while they’re out and about doing other things. All this multi-tasking is depleting our brains, says US behavioural neuro­­scientist Daniel Levitin, author of The Organised Mind. “The brain didn’t evolve to deal with so many things at once,” he says. “It evolved in a much simpler world with far less information coming at us.”

The truth, as any neuroscientist will tell you, is that multi-tasking is a myth. What we’re actually doing is shifting our attention from one thing to another very rapidly. This comes at a high cost, says Levitin. “Every time you do that you’re using up neural resources. You’re causing the brain to be in a state of stress. Cortisol spikes, as well as the fight-or-flight hormone adrenalin, and rational thinking shuts down.”

Divided attention has been shown to affect memory – a 2006 Stanford University study found that learning while ­multi-tasking causes the new information to go to the wrong part of the brain. An earlier study from Gresham College, London, showed it can reduce your effective IQ by 10 points.

“Cloudy thinking is the main problem,” says Levitin. “But we also get addicted to this task-switching because the brain has evolved to have a novelty bias. We would rather pay attention to something new than something old. That served us well when we lived in the same village and knew the same people our entire life. Now we are bombarded with constant novelty.”

Neuroscientists are still discovering exactly how the noise of social media affects human brains. Meanwhile, the high-tech brains of super-computers crunching through all that “big data” have potential in other fields. At the University of Auckland’s Te Punaha Matatini, Centre for Research Excellence, Shaun Hendy wants to harness the personal details being volunteered on Twitter to track flu as it moves through the population. “It’s early days yet, but the end goal is to find ways to prevent the spread of disease, particularly if there were to be a pandemic, and we’re doing that through better understanding.”

Interestingly, Hendy is looking at using tweets to track the spread of ideas through the population. “The way ideas are trans­mitted is a little bit like disease,” he says.

“A lot of economic growth is dependent on innovation. We’re trying to understand where good ideas come from.”

(Patrick, 2008)

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(Wood, 2014)

If you want to design successful user interfaces then you need clear and effective visual communication. Interface Design will help you achieve this using a range of incisive case studies, interviews with professional designers and clear hands-on advice to help you produce user-focused front-end designs for a range of digital media interfaces.

If you want to design successful user interfaces then you need clear and effective visual communication. Interface Design will help you achieve this using a range of incisive case studies, interviews with professional designers and clear hands-on advice to help you produce user-focused front-end designs for a range of digital media interfaces.